Windows Software Tips

Aegisub Advanced Subtitle Editor

2012-01-19T13:53:00.001+01:00

Aegisub Advanced Subtitle Editor is a very easy to use subtitle editor / creator. I have tested out a few subtitle tools, but this one is by far the easiest one to use. It has exactly the feature I was looking for. Simply load the audio and / or the video that needs subtitles and start by selecting a portion of the audio by clicking and dragging from start to end of the sentence in the audio window, then type of paste your text in the big empty window below and click on Commit. Select the next sentence, insert the text and click Commit. To adjust the timings, simply click on a sentence and drag the start and end of the audio selection. It’s that easy! You can also adjust text size, color and style and save in many popular subtitle formats by using the Export feature.

If you want to permanently merge your subtitles with your video, then you have to save your subtitles as an .ssa file (example mysub.ssa) and use VirtualDub with the Subtitler plugin to merge the subtitles with the video. Once you installed VirtualDub and the Subtitler plugin, simply open VirtualDub, open the video, go to video->filters and add the subtitler filter, then select your subtitle (must be .ssa) file and click on the preview button and scroll in the timeline to see if it works. Next click on video->compression and select a video compression codec for exporting.

DivXLand Media Subtitler

2012-01-04T10:18:00.001+01:00

DivXLand Media Subtitler is a very easy to use tool to create your own subtitles for any type of video. Out of all the subtitle creation tools I found this one to be the easiest and fastest to use. No need to get advanced and expensive video editing software if you only wish to add subtitles to your videos. With Media Subtitler you can load the video and / or audio and start creating subtitles with ease. When done you can save the subtitle as a .srt or any other format support you can download as a plugin.

Here is a quick tip if you wish to easily create hardcoded subtitles:

Create / load your subtitles in Media Subtitler.
Save as .ASS subtitle (Advanced Substation Alpha)
Open VirtualDub and load the Subtitler Plugin
Select the subtitles you just saved
Select the video compression codec (CTRL+P)
Select the audio compression codec if needed in Audio->Compression (need to enable
Full Processing Mode for audio to enable audio compression)
Create video with subtitles using File->Save as AVI

ioBit Game Booster 3

2011-12-14T17:47:00.001+01:00

If you like playing games on your PC then you will really need ioBit Game Booster 3. Games can be heavy on graphics and there are lots of calculations going on in the background to make the game run, so it uses 100% out of your PC. However if you have things running that you don’t need while gaming like the sidebar, desktop gadgets, downloaders, themes, background updates, etc.. then your game cannot use 100% out of your PC but only 60% as the other 40% is used by programs and processes running in the background that use the processor and memory. The result is that the game takes a lot longer to load and worst of all the game responds slowly and sometimes ‘freezes’.

Closing all processes manually can be a pain, and you would rather have one program to close them all. This is where Game Booster comes in. If you don’t know what processes and programs to close, simply click to boost button and you are ready to go. However, I would really recommend to use the small configure button below and manually check all processes that you don’t want to have running in the background, specially sidebar.exe and your torrent and p2p downloaders. You only have to do this once as the next time you start Game Booster it will remember your configuration.

When you are done playing simply click on the big button again and all your programs and processes are re-opened. However, I prefer to do a reboot as the restore button opens tons of windows that are normally hidden on startup.

There are not many Game Boosting tools out there, and as far as I tested ioBit’s Game Booster performs the best. I have also tested JetBoost, a free Game Boosting tool that does almost the same as Game Booster. However I found that I could not close sidebar.exe as it did not appear in the list and a few others as well.

Toolwiz Time Freeze

2011-12-02T10:40:00.001+01:00

Toolwiz Time Freeze is an easy to use system protection tool that can put your system into a temprorary ‘time freeze’. This means that from the moment you enable Time Freeze any changes done to your system will be undone when you reboot. Upon reboot your system will be back exactly the same it was right before you enabled it and Time Freeze will be turned off.

Please note that this is NOT a permanent system protection and only starts working when you manually enable it from the system tray. There are programs out there that can put your computer in a permanent time freeze and return your system back to the way it was on every reboot. However the problem there is that all your downloaded documents, updates and installations will be undone on every reboot.

Toolwiz Time Freeze can come in handy when you want to try out new software (that does not require reboot), try out untrusted software or if you temporary want to borrow your computer to someone who you are afraid will make unwanted changes to your computer.

Another useful feature is the file protection function. Add a folder to this and it will be protected from being accessed or modified by any program. Ideal to store your sensitive information like personal documents. You can imagine a scenario where your computer might be infected by malware that can access your personal data and transmit it over the internet.

FeedReader

2011-11-22T11:49:00.001+01:00

(From the website)
Feedreader is the most robust, highly-functional personal aggregation solution on the market today. It dynamically reads, collects, and organizes syndicated Web content, and seamlessly delivers it directly to user desktops. With Feedreader, you have instant, convenient access to the up-to-the-minute news you need, without information overload.

Feedreader automatically downloads updates from your favorite Web sites. So, it eliminates the need for you to constantly monitor multiple Web pages, while allowing you to immediately identify and retrieve new articles – no matter how long you’ve been away from your desk.

Feedreader provides cutting-edge features in an intuitive, user-friendly environment. Even non-technical users can view comprehensive, consolidated information from across the Internet – faster and easier than ever before.

Kingsoft PC Doctor

2011-11-07T15:03:00.001+01:00

Kingsoft PC Doctor is one of those rare freeware gems that you find hard to believe that it is actually free, just like Comodo Internet Security. It looks great, it’s fast, it’s efficient, it’s packed with features, it has no nags and does not come with toolbars and other things you don’t need, and it does it’s job better than most commercial alternatives out there.

Kingsoft PC Doctor can do the following:

Scan your computer for trojans
Protect your computer from malware (scans all downloaded files and plugged in disks)
Help you cleaning up browser plugins and addons
Help you fix system errors
Check for latest Windows Updates and install them
Help you to disable unneeded startup entries
Clean temporary files
Clean traces
Clean registry
Locate large files
Remove uneeded files that ship with windows (can even remove windows update backups)

It will also monitor your computer in the background for any suspicious files and warn you if you downloaded a file that is not known to be safe and prompts you to be careful. If this happens and you know you are not sure if the file is safe, you can ask for a second opinion at Virustotal.

The only downside of this product is the standard traffic monitor floating window that is open by default after you install it. You can simply right-click on it and disable both checked options in the menu. You also might want to disable the boot-time window that shows up after you boot your computer in the settings.

Create Windows 7-like quick-launch bar without extra software in Windows XP and Vista

2011-10-21T16:05:00.000+02:00

As a Windows 7 user I find the new taskbar to be a huge improvement on the previous versions of Windows, mainly because I can start my favorite programs with a single click. The quick-launch bar in XP and Vista is handy, but it has it’s downsides. It takes up space from the taksbar (which is already cluttered with tray icons and open programs), the icons are very small (specially if you have a higher resolution) and the rest of the icons are two-clicks away by clicking on the miniscule arrow next to it. If you also want a better solution and have large icons always available on your desktop without using any extra software, then watch the following tutorial I made.

How to keep your computer running smooth

2011-10-20T17:00:00.000+02:00

Since the computer is actually a tool to get things done, it will require maintenance like any tool you use to keep it working efficiently and reliably. There are many people who just install anything on their computer without reading or even selecting manual install and choosing the components they want. They end up having toolbars, updaters, notification messages and other things that are not needed to run the software and only slow down your computer and thus yourself (takes you longer to get your job done). Not to mention opening the ‘funny program’ attached to an email you got from a ‘friend’ (that person did not actually send it but most likely a spam bot that was installed on their infected machine).

So here are some tips on how you can keep your computer running smooth and as problem-free-as-possible.

Drives and Partitions

Before we go to the backups we need to at least have more than just one drive. The reason is that it’s not a good idea to backup your data on the same drive because if your drive fails for some reason, you will not be able to restore the backup since it’s on the same drive that failed. Thus you will need at least one extra drive. This can be an internal or external drive. If you choose to buy an extra drive, make sure it has at least as much capacity as your main drive so that the backup will fit. External USB drives are fine too. If your external drive is a bit less in capacity than your main drive, then you can check how much space is used on your main drive as that will be the largest size of the backup (backup will be smaller since it uses compression). So if your main drive has 32Gb used, then your external drive needs to be at least 32 Gb in size (if you do not use compression).

If you decided to get a large capacity drive that is a lot more than the size of your main drive, then you might want to chop the drive into separate partitions for convenience. If you buy a house with one huge room, you would also want to divide it into smaller rooms for each to have their own purpose. I would advise to have one partition for the backups (the ‘backups’ partition) and one for files that do not need backing up (I would call this the ‘downloads’ partition). You can chop up your drive into partitions using tools like EASEUS Partition Master Home Edition.

If you decide not to get an extra drive and use the same drive that you have, then you will have to divide your drive into at least two partitions of equal size. One for Windows and the other for the backup. You will not be able to restore your backup if your entire disk fails though, but the chances of that happening is fairly low.

Backups

The most important of all tips is to at least make regular backups of your computer, and I am not talking about a simple file backup or “My Documents” backup. If you computer no longer boots for whatever reason (infection or defective hard drive) you will have to re-install Windows and all the programs and drivers and that can take a couple of hours if not days to get you back up and running again. There are scenario’s where even Windows System Restore cannot help (if you can no longer boot or you hard disk is dead). Wouldn’t it be nice to restore your system with just a few clicks and be back up and running within an hour or less (depending on the size of your backup)?

A great free backup tool is EASEUS Todo Backup. Here you would want to use the less obvious “Disk and partition backup” (on the right-side menu) functionality rather than System backup since we want to make some adjustments to the backup procedure. Make sure you select your backup partition as destination and select it to schedule the backup on a daily basis. Depending on the size of your backup partition you can select to keep the last 7 or 30 backups (Existing images cleanup rules). EASEUS Todo Backup will make incremental backups, that means the the first backup will contain all your files and will be very big and the next backups will only contain the new and modified files and thus will take less time to complete the backup. Note that the more backups you select to preserve, the more disk space this will take. If you are not sure how much backups you can preserve then simply enter 7. This will give you a history of up to one week to restore to.

If you have a slower computer or laptop, then making a backup every day can take a long time, use up lots of disk space and drain your battery. In that case I would advise to make a manual system backup to an external drive and update it regularly. You can do this in the Backup management option in Todo Backup once you made your backup. Simply update your existing backup by running it again or by deleting your old backup and creating a new one.

Also make sure you enable “PreOS” boot in the lower right corner of the options tab of Todo Backup. This will let you choose if you want to boot into Windows or Todo Backup when you start your computer. If you can no longer boot into Windows, then you can select Todo Backup to restore to you last backup when Windows was still working properly.

If you rather have a more advanced and experienced backup software, then I would recommend Acronis True Image Home (shareware).

Malware

Now that you have a safe backup of your system does not mean that you no longer need to be cautious of what files you open and what sites you visit. You might be able to restore to your previous state, but you should see this only as a failsafe solution in case of emergency. The best remedy is always a prevention.

Personally I have observed many Anti-malware solutions in action and so far my favorite is Comodo Internet Security for several reasons. It’s free and it uses various techniques to keep your computer safe. Many other antivirus tools let an unknown program through. Comodo however runs the unknown program in a sandbox (a safe environment where a program ‘thinks’ it has access to your entire computer but is isolated from your system). If you tend to open unknown applications, then I would recommend to open them in the sandbox if Comodo asks you to. If you do not open files from emails and do not download suspicious files and rather not have the popups, then you can simply disable the Defence + and Sandbox by right-clicking on the Comodo icon in the tray. To save on system resources I would not recommend to install the firewall as well since the Windows firewall is pretty good in itself and if you are behind a router then you have an extra layer of firewall protection.

If you want to run unknown or suspicious applications without using a sandbox, then I would recommend to get the VirusTotal Uploader. This adds an option in your menu when you right-click on a file to upload it to the VirusTotal server and have it scanned with dozens of antimalware programs to give an idea of the threat of the program. Keep in mind though that sometimes some programs can detect certain files as ‘false positives’ and claim to be harmful while they are not.

If you believe you might be infected with something than you also might want to run a scan with Hitman Pro and / or Comodo Cleaning Essentials 2.0 32 bit (click here for 64 bit version) and / or Malwarebytes.

Software Maintenance

The more programs you install, the slower your computer gets as most programs that are installed have components that keep running in the background to check for updates, send error reports, etc.. All these background items also start when you start your computer so it takes longer for your computer to be ready. Also they consume your limited system memory so that you will have less memory left for your regular tasks. The result of this is that Windows will have to use your harddisk as memory if your main memory becomes full and that is what drastically slows down your computer and makes program a lot less responsive and take longer to start.

It’s better to completely uninstall a program that you no longer use rather than disable it in the startup since it will also save you disk space. To uninstall programs you can use the default windows software manager, however I would recommend Revo Uninstaller as many uninstallers leave stuff behind (like registry keys, a folder with configuration, shortcuts, etc..). Simply run Revo Uninstaller and inspect every single program you have and decide if you want to keep it or not.

If you want a complete PC check-up then I would recommend iolo System Mechanic. It’s a one-stop solution to fix your hard drive errors, startup-items, registry problems, system clutter and a lot more. I would recommend doing the deep scan and repair the detected startup items manually since sometimes it detects false positives (in my case it detected PicPick as a dangerous startup item).

Finally I would recommend Kingsoft PC Doctor as standard software for every PC you have. Among many features It offers an extra layer of protection on top of your existing antivirus as it has integrated cloud scanning of anything you download. You can also use it to disable startup items that you might want to remove, optimize your system, cleanup your registry, remove temporary files and windows update backup files (that can take up lots of space).

Hardware Maintenance

It’s also a good idea to get an air duster can and once in a while open up your computer (while it’s turned off and the power is unplugged) and dust it off on the inside, specially the fans. If the fans get too cluttered with dust, your computer will overheat and start failing or turn off while you are busy. Don’t forget to dust off the CPU, mainboard, Graphics card and chassis fan. And while you’re at it you can do the keyboard too.

EASEUS Partition Master

2011-10-18T11:45:00.001+02:00

EASEUS Partition Master is a free / paid (depending on the version you choose) partition manager. If you ever need to create or manage your partitions then this is the tool you need. It offers more functionality, flexibility and user friendliness than the standard Windows Disk Manager. Having multiple partitions can be handy if you want to organize your drives to have one place for your Windows system, one for your backups and one for your downloads (for example). You can also merge partitions, format them and a lot more.

Freemake Audio Converter

2011-10-10T17:43:00.001+02:00

With Freemake Audio Converter you can convert audio to MP3, WMA, WAV, FLAC, AAC, M4A, OGG, convert audio to MP3 player, iPod, iPhone, iPad, PSP, extract audio from video, join audio files, rip and burn audio CD’s. Freemake is known to make awesome free software like Video Downloader and Video Converter.

AllDup

2011-09-22T13:20:00.001+02:00

AllDup is a freeware tool for searching and removing file duplicates on your computer. The fast search algorithm find duplicates of any file type, e.g., text, pictures, music or movies. The powerful search engine enables you to find duplicates with a combination of the following criteria: File Name, File Extension, File Size, File Content, Last Modified Date, Create Date, File Attributes and Hard Links.

Please not that this software searches for “exact” duplicates and not duplicate “sounding” music, for example if you have the same song in 160k and 320k mp3 quality. For that you would need something like AudioDedupe.

GhostMouse

2011-09-21T12:47:00.001+02:00

Ever had to do a repetitious keyboard / mouse sequence for the purpose of software testing / copying, pasting and modifying text? Don’t spend hours or even minutes doing this mind and arm numbing work, rather record it once and have it played back while you are out getting some coffee or water.

GhostMouse allows you to record and automate a sequence of mouse clicks and keystrokes on a Windows PC. To start the recording process, hit Record and start simulating the keyboard and mouse actions you'd like the application to record. To replay the recorded sequence, hit Play. Features include:

Saving and loading of recordings
Set playback speed of recordings up tp 10x
Choose what to record (Keyboard, Mouse click, Delay, Mouse move)
Set of play / stop and record / stop hotkeys
Setup minimize during play / record
Option to run at computer startup
Choice for action on playback complete (Idle, quit, lock, log off, shutdown, standby, hibernate)

The successor to GhostMouse called ReMouse is the paid version and will continue development.

Panda Cloud Antivirus

2011-08-26T12:38:00.001+02:00

Panda Cloud Antivirus is lightweight and quite effective free antivirus (or you can choose to buy it and have extra features unlocked). Personally I am a big fan of Comodo Internet Security because of it’s effectiveness thanks to it’s sandbox technology (and because it’s free). However, Panda Cloud is a good alternative if you want an antivirus that does not ask questions, does not use lots of disk space (because it relies on the ‘cloud’ and thus it does not need to download and update it’s virus signatures), and does not use loads of memory. Thus Panda Cloud is ideal for computers that do not have lots of memory (less than 1Gb) or for people that do not wish to be bothered by popups asking you how you want to treat an unknown piece of software that you are trying to run.

Having an antivirus program not ask questions and make decisions for you can also have it’s disadvantages. Either it is less safe (if it by default allows unknown applications to run) or it is more restrictive (it will not allow you to run an unknown application that you know is safe). Panda Cloud does not have a sandbox like Comodo Internet Security does (that is how CIS deals with unknown software by still running it but in a safe environment), but still it’s pretty accurate and up-to-date when it comes to detecting malware.

However, just because you installed an antivirus does not mean that you are now 100% protected and can run any program you get in your mail or any website. With everything comes common sense. The safest way to protect your computer is to use a program like EaseUS Todo Backup or even better Acronis TrueImage Home and have it make daily backups of your entire Windows partition. Just in case a virus does get through, or even if your entire disk dies, you can still recover your system.

Mozilla Thunderbird

2011-08-25T17:06:00.001+02:00

Mozilla Thunderbird is a free email client made by Mozilla (from the makers of Firefox). The program version runs parallel with Firefox, so when there is a major Firefox update, there usually is also a major Thunderbird update following shortly.

Just like Firefox, Thunderbird also supports addons and personas (specially designed for Thunderbird). The email client loads fast and is very stable. It does not have a calendar feature by default, but using an addon like “Lightning” you can upgrade Thunderbird with a calendar that you can also view your Google calendar (using Google’s ical feed) in Lightning calendar. Unfortunatly you cannot ‘sync’ the calendar, thus any changes you make in Lightning will not reflect in your online Google Calendar, so it’s not bidirectional.

To see your Google calendar in Thunderbird:
1. Login to your Google Calendar account.
2. Click on “Calendar Settings” in the upper right corner.
3. Click on “Calendars” in the upper menu.
4. Click on the Calendar that you want to see in Thunderbird.
5. Below you see “Private address” and three buttons (XML, ICAL and HTML). Right-click on the iCal button and select “copy link location” (if you are using Firefox).
6. Asuming you installed the Lightning addon for Thunderbird, click on “Events and Tasks –> Calendar” or press CTRL+SHIFT+C
7. On the left you should see a calendar on top and below that your “Calendar” menu. There should be one calendar there named “home”. Right-click in the empty space and select “New calendar”
8. Select “On the Network” and click “Next”. Select the iCalendar format and paste the link (you copied in step 5) where it says “Location” and click “Next”. Give you calendar a name (example: Google Calendar) and click “Next”.

Personally I have used Microsoft Live mail for a while but I found it to be too slow in response. Clicking on “Reply” takes about 3 to 5 seconds to open the message compose window. Also the ribbon interface seems to be slow in response. Thunderbird however loads a lot faster on startup, the message compose window instantly shows up when I click on “reply” and the interface can be themed with a persona or a complete new skin. Also the ability to use a calendar is ideal.

KeyTweak

2011-08-23T10:08:00.000+02:00

KeyTweak allows you to enable and disable keys, remap keys, reset all key mappings with one click, and save or restore your favorite configurations. This tool can be very handy for developing kiosk applications where you want certain keys to be disabled.

EASEUS Todo Backup

2011-08-18T14:36:00.000+02:00

EaseUS Todo Backup is a free partition and file backup tool that also allows you to create disk clones. I have used Paragon Backup in the past as a free partition backup tool. However, EaseUS Todo Backup version 3 has far surpassed Paragon in terms of usability, interface, features and speed. The most important feature for me is the ability to schedule regular incremental backups (only backup the files that have been added / modified since last backup) and to automagically cleanup old backup files by keeping a history of x backups or x days old backups.

When you make your first parition backup, it will take a while (depending on the used size of your partition) for the first backup to create. The next time the backup runs it will do an incremental backup and at an amazingly fast speed! For example, it only takes a few minutes to update the backup of my partition that has 75Gb of used space! Paragon on the other hand took almost as long as a full backup would. Also the incremental backups of EaseUS Todo Backup are a lot smaller than Paragon's.

For me this is the best free partition backup program there is. I use this tool at work to keep a backup of my main partition just in case disaster strikes. At home however I use something that is even better than EaseUS Todo Backup which is Acronis TrueImage Home.

DriveGleam

2011-08-10T13:39:00.001+02:00

DriveGLEAM enables you to monitor hard drive activity from the system tray. You can choose to add a dynamic tray icon for one or more of your drives, each indicating the current read/write activity as well as drive capacity. If you don`t need individual indicators for each drive, you can choose to combine multiple drives into a single icon. For more technical inclined users, the program also supports output via parallel port, allowing you to use external LEDs as indicators.

Before DriveGLEAM I have used Free HDD Led as a tray harddisk activity indicator. However I had to find an alternative because Free HDD Led did not hide the floating HDD Led indicators window properly on a dual monitor setup. The floating window appeared on the second window in a corner without activity and I had to manually close that window every time the program starts. I have emailed the author about this but in a recent updated it still was not fixed, so it was time for me to find an alternative.

DriveGLEAM does not update the tray icon as fast as Free FDD Led does, but neither does it leave an annoying floating window on your desktop. Also DriveGLEAM can use your keyboard LEDs to indicate harddisk activity.

PeerBlock

2011-08-05T15:43:00.001+02:00

PeerBlock lets you control who your computer "talks to" on the Internet. By selecting appropriate lists of "known bad" computers, you can block communication with advertising or spyware oriented servers, computers monitoring your p2p activities, computers which have been "hacked", even entire countries! They can't get in to your computer, and your computer won't try to send them anything either. Ideal for when you are downloading torrents and other peer to peer data.

And best of all, it's free!

Sardu

2011-07-27T14:59:00.001+02:00

Sardu is tool that let’s you built a boot CD / DVD or USB containing multiple bootable environments. Normally you would have to make a bootable CD for Microsoft Standalone System Sweeper, and another bootable CD for Dr.Web and yet another for the Kaspersky Rescue CD. So instead of burning 3 separate CD’s, you could make one CD (or DVD, depending on how much data the packages will take) with all three (or more) antivirus tools.

Sardu also supports other bootable environments. The program can download the packages for you, or you can download them manually.

Sardu is a standalone program. That means that it does not come with an installer. You can also unzip the files to a portable USB drive to be part of your portable tools collection.

Below you will find a video made by Matt from remove-malware.com on how to use Sardu.

VirusTotal Uploader 2.0

2011-07-26T11:53:00.001+02:00

VirusTotal Uploader adds the option in your right-click menu to upload any file up to 20Mb to the VirusTotal website to be scanned against an array of antivirus tools. This can be very useful if you have a suspicious file that your antivirus software did not detect as harmful and would like a second opinion.

When you send a file to VirusTotal, it will first check to see if that file was uploaded before by someone else and present you with the scan results if it was seen before. If you have a new file that was not scanned before, it will upload the file and present you a webpage with the status of your upload. If the results page shows 3 or less detections, it is most probably clean. Some antivirus products can still report a file as being harmful or infected even though they are not and are called false positives. How would you know if you are dealing with a false positive or not? Common sense. For example, I recently downloaded an updated version of PickPick. After scanning with VirusTotal, 2 out of 43 scan engines found it to be insecure (VBA32 and Vipre). I know this file is most probably secure as I used PickPick for a long time and I trust it’s source. However, if I were to scan a file that I got from a shady source (strange website, email or personal message) and it would have the same result (2 out of 43) then I would probably run it in the sandbox of Comodo Internet Security if I really need to see what it is or does.

SimilarImages

2011-07-25T11:17:00.001+02:00

SimilarImages is a free tool to help you remove duplicate images from any size or format. I use this tool to delete any duplicate wallpapers I have, since I have over 8000 of them (mostly from allwallpapersfree.org) in combination with a Wallpaper Shifter I made. There is also a program called VisiPics that I used to find duplicate images. SimilarImages however can find duplicates a lot faster and seems to be more accurate than VisiPics. Also SimilarImages keeps a database of file signatures to make future comparing even faster. One downside of SimilarImages though is that it lets you review every image one by one rather than present you with a list of similar images and auto mark the ones with a smaller size for you. SimilarImages does have an auto mark feature, but by default it is not enabled. To enable this you have to go to the tab “Semi-automated deletion” and change the order of the rules. Because “None” is on top no file will be marked for auto deletion. I would recommend to put “lower resolution” on top, followed by “smaller file” and then followed by “Left File”. This will mark the low resolution files for deletion. If you want you can also enable “Auto-delete 0-files”. This will auto delete (according to the rules you setup) one of the duplicates that is close to exact similarity (difference near 0). The rest will be auto tagged and presented to you one by one as it finds them.

The image compare window might be a bit confusing at first. If you have set up semi-automated deletion then all you have to do here is check if the images really are similar and click on the button with the red box and white arrow pointing down. This will auto delete the low resolution / smaller file size / left side(depending on the rules you set up) image. On the top of the window is a similar red icon with white arrow like there is on the button. This shows what image is to be deleted, so clicking the button will delete that image and keep the other. You can also manually delete an image by clicking on the red X button. The double yellow notepad icon will copy the selected image over the other one while keeping it’s original filename. The button with the red circle will delete both images. If the images are not similar then simply click on Next. This will also mark the combination to be skipped next time as they are not similar. The FastStep button will skip all the other files with the same name but a higher number (for example you are on image1.jpg and the files go on to image34.jpg, clicking on FastStep will skip image2.jpg to image34.jpg).

iolo System Mechanic

2011-07-20T12:07:00.001+02:00

iolo System Mechanic is an all-in-one solution to take care of your pc. It is loaded with tools to clean and speed up your computer. iolo System Mechanic is excellent for non-tech savvy people as the main interface offers a single button to fix all problems it found with your computer without asking any complicated questions. And if you are familiar with computer cleanup and repair then you can also choose to see more detail on what it is about to repair and make your own choices on what to repair rather than blindly fix everything. You can also choose to have certain computer problems always repaired atomagically by using the Automated Tasks feature.
To quickly summarize the interface of iolo System Mechanic:
Overview
This is the main dashboard of the program. You can quickly see the status of your computer with the graphic shown on the right. The status shows up instantly after you start your System Mechanic because it runs background checks when you do not use your computer. This saves time to analyze the status of your computer when you start the program. It only does a quick analysis though and you can choose to do a deep analysis manually. From the overview screen you can choose to automagically repair all problems or choose to review every problem. You will also get tips on this windows on other tasks you might want to do in System Mechanic. Your subsciption status to System Mechanic is shown below. System Mechanic receives tune-up definitions and updates, thus you will need a subscription as these guys also need to be payed for making this great program up-to-date with the latest PC issues. It’s still cheaper than bringing your computer to the local computer repair shop.
Problems
This windows will show you an overview of all the problems found on your computer. You will have the option to review them one by one, or fix everything without asking questions. I would recommend the manual fixing option to see what the problem is and why that is a problem. You might learn something about your computer like this.
Automated Tasks
Here you can choose what System Mechanic will automagically fix for you when you are not using your computer. By default everything is disabled exept the automatic download of updates. I have enabled everything here except Automatically optimize startup configuration as I would like to be in control of what programs do and do not startup. However if you are unsure what you need, then you might want to enable this too.
Anti-malware and FirewallThis simply monitors the status of your anti-malware and firewall. In the pro version of System Mechanic you also get a built-in anti-malware solution, tool to recover deleted data, tool to secure delete data beyond recovery and an online data backup solution to keep your documents safe even if your pc gets stolen or destroyed.
All-in-one Toolsiolo System Mechanic also comes with bundled solutions (Total Registry Revitalizer, PC Security, PC Cleanup, PC Repair, PC Accelerator and everything together as PC TotalCare) as you can see in the following image:

All of these features are already used in the background scan and presented in the main screen as problems that you might want to fix or set as automatic repair in the Automated Tasks by you. They are simply bundled here if you wish to target issues related to cleanup, security, speed, crashes or registry.
Individual Tools
Here you can find all the tools by category and use them one at a time. There are some useful tools here like Privacy Cleaner, Incinerator (delete files beyond recover), Duplicate File Inspector, System Guard (recommended), DriveSense, Advanced System Information, NetSpeed Analyzer and System Change Tracker.
IntelliStatusThis section shows a quick overview of all your hard disk usage, memory usage, startup programs, running programs and internet speed.
HistoryThis shows a history of actions from System Mechanic, and Odometer that shows a total count of repairs done and drive space freed, and a SafeteyNet feature to do a roll-back of changes made to your system by System Mechanic.
Overall, iolo System Mechanic is an uber-complete package that has all the tools you will ever need to maintain your computer. If you want a more complete package that includes online backup and anti-malware, then you might want to take a look at System Mechanic Pro. Personally I use Comodo Internet Security and I backup my stuff on an external drive. Either way, both the basic and pro version are absolutely worth the money. If you take care of your computer, it will take care of you (by not giving you frustrations).

VLC Media Player

2011-07-18T11:46:00.001+02:00

VLC (VideoLAN) Media Player is a versatile media player that can play almost any type of media file. On top of playing media files, it can also record video and audio streams. The player is lightweight, fast and easy to use.

For years I have been a fan of Mediaplayer Classic Homecinema because it loads a lot faster than Windows Mediaplayer, is less resource intensive, can normalize audio levels in videos, and can download subtitles. However, MPC (mediaplayer calssic) had some downsides. You have to select a specific video renderer in the settings (out of a dozen) to be able to see and download subtitles. It also does not properly support multiple audio channels in mkv files, and it crashes too often. So it was time for me to look for an alternative.

VLC Media Player supports all the features that MPC has and even more. The most important features for me were audio normalizing, subtitles downloading and a low impact on the system. VLC had almost all of these features, except downloading of subtitles. However, using a plugin found here, you can get an extra option in your right-click menu to search for and download subtitles. Note that this feature can only work with the default skin. The skin you see above is called eDark VLC (my favorite) and can be found on this page.

Comodo Cleaning Essentials

2011-07-14T10:16:00.001+02:00

Comodo Cleaning Essentials (CCE) is a set of computer security tools designed to help users identify and remove malware and unsafe processes from infected computers.

Major features include:

KillSwitch - an advanced system monitoring tool that allows users to identify, monitor and stop any unsafe processes that are running on their system.

Malware scanner - Fully customizable scanner capable of unearthing and removing viruses, rootkits, hidden files and malicious registry keys hidden deep in your system.

CCE is a lightweight, portable application which requires no installation and can be run directly from removable media such as a USB key, CD or DVD. Home users can quickly and easily run scans and operate the software with the minimum of fuss. More experienced users will enjoy the high levels of visibility and control over system processes and the ability to configure customized scans from the granular options menu.

Folderico

2011-07-13T12:20:00.001+02:00

Folderico is a very easy solution to quickly give color to your folders to help you organize your data and quickly be able to find the folder you are looking for in a glance.

I use it at my work to quickly find the proper folder I need to be in. For example, I made the folder with websites green (Adobe Dreamweaver green), and other folders that are not projects relevant gray.

The only downside with using custom folder icons is that the folders have to be “system” folders in order to pull off this trick. Windows automatically makes these folders “system” folders if you use a custom icon. This is no problem if you use Windows Explorer. But if you use Total Commander, then these folders become invisible bacause by default Total Commander hides all hidden and system folders, so you have to enable “show hidden and system folders” in Total Commander.

Bullzip PDF Printer

2011-07-07T11:19:00.001+02:00

Bullzip PDF Printer is a free virtual printer driver that enables you to create PDF files by printing your documents to PDF. This can be very handy if you need to email something and you want to make sure they can view it (for example if you mail a word document to someone who does not have Microsoft Word or Excel, or if you need to print something and mail it to them).

There are many other PDF creation tools out there and even packages that combine PDF reading with PDF printing like Nitro PDF. I have tried Nitro PDF and it works great on most computers but I have spotted a few small personal problems. I cannot seem to get it installed on my main computer (Windows 7 64 bit) as the installer gives an error when it is almost done installing, then rolls back the installation. I have tried resolving the problem by posting it on their forum, but so far no luck. Another issue is that Nitro PDF cannot print to an image file, thus you will need to install another virtual printer driver to be able to print to image files. Bullzip PDF can print to PDF as well as many supported image files.

What PDF printer and reader to use? If you have no problems with Nitro PDF and don’t print to image files, then I would recommend Nitro PDF. Otherwise I would recommend Bullzip PDF together with Foxit PDF reader as an alternative.

Revo Uninstaller

2011-07-04T11:13:00.001+02:00

Revo Uninstaller is an uninstaller manager alternative to the Windows programs uninstaller. Why would you need an alternative? Here is why:

Many installers do not clean up after themselves. They leave program folders, configuration / user files and registry keys behind in your system. This only takes up space and slows down your system. A complete uninstall should be “complete” and not leave a trace behind. Revo Uninstaller can scan your system for traces of the software after uninstalling and cleanup the leftovers.

Plus you can sort programs by installation date so you can quickly see what programs have been installed recently.

I have also tried the Pro version that comes with an install monitor to keep track of changes when installing new software. I found the free version a lot more user friendly and thorough enough for me.

I have also tried the new Comodo Programs Manager and even posted it on this blog. However, I take that back and recommend Revo Uninstaller instead. Comodo Programs Manager is less user friendly in my experience because of the following reasons:

Comodo Programs Manager loads too slow. When starting it gathers data on installed programs, drivers and Windows Updates. When I start a programs manager I want to uninstall something. I don’t really care much about how many programs I have, how many Mb’s that is, how many drivers I have and if I have the latest Windows Updates (since I get my updates automatically with the built in Windows 7 update tool). Even when clicking on the programs tab it takes up to a minute to display my installed programs.

The uninstaller in Comodo Programs Manager is buggy. When I uninstall something and it’s done, the program still remains in the list.When reloading it is gone.

The install monitor in Comodo Programs Manager does not seem to work and does not seem to monitor any programs I install. When I uninstall a program I installed (even when I install it by right-clicking on the installer and select ‘monitor using Comodo Programs Manager’), it still says ‘standard uninstall’.

In Comodo Programs Manager it seems that it can only cleanup monitored applications and not unknown applications, thus you end up with a regular uninstall like Windows does. Revo however can do a ‘deep’ uninstall for all applications.

Comodo Programs manager still needs lots of work. Until then, I recommend Revo Uninstaller.

A tip for Windows 7 users: You might have noticed that you cannot pin Revo Uninstaller to your taskbar. This is because it has the word “installer” in the title and Windows 7 restricts pinning “Installers” to the taskbar. To fix this simply create a shortcut to Revo Uninstaller on your desktop and rename the shortcut to “Revo”, then drag and drop it to your taskbar.

K-Lite Codec Pack

2011-06-29T10:16:00.001+02:00

K-Lite Codec Pack is a collection of video and audio decoders that you will need if you want to watch various video formats like avi, mp4 and mkv and also various audio formats. These format are actually “containers” and can contain various compression techniques. There are for example avi files compressed using DivX, Xvid, mp4, Sorenson, or any other codec but they all have a .avi extension. Avi files can contain audio and video. However, .mkv files (matroska) can contain video and multiple audio channels and subtitles.

K-Lite Codec Pack contains all the audio and video codec you need to view most of the common multimedia files out there. Plus it also comes with Media Player Classic Homecinema. This mediaplayer looks like the “classic” windows mediaplayer, but don’t let the looks fool you. It’s a lot faster, has more features and lighter on resources that the default Windows Mediaplayer. Unlike Windows Mediaplayer, it cannot rip your CD’s or manager your media library, but it can do what Windows Mediaplayer was originally meant to do, play multimedia files.

I am using Windows Mediaplayer Classic Homecinema for years and have it as my default player. When doubleclicking on a video or audio, it only takes 2 to 3 seconds to start playing. If I had the default Windows Mediaplayer as my default player, it would take up to 10 seconds to start playing my video, if it even knows what to do with a .mkv file.

I would recommend downloading the standard version as K-Lite comes in 3 flavor (basic, standard and full). The basic is missing Mediaplayer Classic while the full version also contains some extra tools that you probably won’t need if you only want to watch videos. Also I would choose the advanced install and read what you want to enable and install. The default settings are mostly good enough, however I would recommend assigning all audio and video formats to Mediaplayer Classic and enable volume normalizing. At the end of the installation it will check your system for codec problems. Click “Yes” when you get a conflict prompt to let K-Lite fix it for you.

XML Notepad

2011-06-22T12:53:00.001+02:00

XML Notepad 2007 provides a simple intuitive user interface for browsing and editing XML documents.

Handy features include:

Tree View synchronized with Node Text View for quick editing of node names and values.
Incremental search (Ctrl+I) in both tree and text views, so as you type it navigates to matching nodes.
Cut/copy/paste with full namespace support.
Drag/drop support for easy manipulation of the tree, even across different instances of XML Notepad and from the file system.
Infinite undo/redo for all edit operations.
In place popup multi-line editing of large text node values.
Configurable fonts and colors via the options dialog.
Full find/replace dialog with support for regex and XPath.
Good performance on large XML documents, loading a 3mb document in about one second.
Instant XML schema validation while you edit with errors and warnings shown in the task list window.
Intellisense based on expected elements and attributes and enumerated simple type values.
Support for custom editors for date, dateTime and time datatypes and other types like color.
Handy nudge tool bar buttons for quick movement of nodes up and down the tree.
Inplace HTML viewer for processing xml-stylesheet processing instructions.
Built-in XML Diff tool.
Support for XInclude
Dynamic help from XSD annotations.
Goto definition to navigate includes and XSD schema information.

ManyCam

2011-06-20T16:53:00.001+02:00

With ManyCam you can:

- Use your webcam with multiple programs simultaneously.
- Add text to your webcam video window with any application.
- Add cool animations to your video window.
- Show your local day and date in your video window.
- Add live CGI graphics like fire and water effects. You can even make it appear as if it is snowing inside your house!

iCarbon

2011-06-07T10:25:00.001+02:00

iCarbon allows you to combine your printer and scanner into a photo copier using a small and fast program. All TWAIN-compatible scanners on your computer can be acquired with one click, as can all your printers. Scan/Print is just one simple operation.

Features

Clean user interface
Easy to use
Fast
Copy in Black/White, Gray scale and Color
Choose your scan quality
Set up the contrast for each copy
Store different copier settings
Activate invert printing for black and white images if you have printing problems
Last setting will be saved and loaded at the next application start
Totally free

Trillian 5

2011-05-11T10:13:00.001+02:00

Trillian 5 is a free multi platform chat client for Windows, Mac, iPhone, Android and Blackberry. Version 5 has major improvements over the past versions. They cleaned up the heavy interface and made it look more fresh, clean and lightweight as it loads faster than any previous version. Trillian 5 supports many popular char protocols like Google, Yahoo, MSN, Facebook, Jabber, ICQ, Bonjour and many other. With one Trillian account you can merge all your other chat accounts into one and even have all your chats synchronized on all your devices if you buy the pro version (which has a very low price).

Many years ago I only used MSN messenger when it was still small, clean and had no banners. Then I discovered ICQ, and had two chat programs running simultaneously. MSN messenger started to have banners and tabs and ICQ also became more and more bulky. So I switched over to Trillian (version 1). Then later version of Trillian also became more and more bulky and heavy in graphics, resulting in more crashes and slowdowns. So I switched over to Pidgin. However, the new Trillian 5 has major improvements over their past version and even looks and works better than Pidgin. So now I switched back to Trillian 5 and uninstalled Pidgin. Will Pidgin make a comeback in the future?

InstantStorm

2011-05-06T16:38:00.001+02:00

InstantStorm is a powerful freeware Flash screensaver creator that turns your Adobe Flash files (SWF) into professional screensavers in no time. Unlike other similar tools, InstantStorm is actually free of charge even for commercial use and does not add any nag screens or other annoying things to your output files. Apart from that you can customize virtually anything: the settings dialog, the installer (including all texts and images), the screensaver behavior, and more. Need to build a complex corporate screensaver, make your very own Flash screensaver for your friends and family, or just convert your favorite Flash movie to a screensaver for your own computer? InstantStorm is the right program for you!

iPrint

2011-05-04T13:10:00.001+02:00

Do you ever wish you could easily select what pages you want to print and thus avoid printing an entire page with just one line of text that is a footer of a website? Or that you can fit two pages into one and save 50% of paper and some ink (due to smaller font and images)? iPrint can do exactly that and in my opinion a feature like this should be standard on every computer.

Click here to visit iPrint’s website.

Starck Clock screensaver

2011-04-27T11:55:00.001+02:00

The Starck Clock screensaver is a clock screensaver I made inspired by the Fossil ‘O-Ring’ wristwatch designed by Philippe Starck. This clock is also available as a Windows Gadget.

Virtual CloneDrive

2011-04-20T10:37:00.001+02:00

Virtual CloneDrive works and behaves just like a physical CD/DVD drive, however it exists only virtually. Image files like ISO, BIN and CCD can be mounted onto a virtual drive from your hard-disk or from a network drive and used in the same manner as inserting them into a normal CD/DVD drive.
Probably the best virtual drive software, Virtual CloneDrive allows you to enjoy the freedom of a virtual drive and is completely free.

Paint.NET

2011-04-12T11:40:00.001+02:00

Paint.NET is free image and photo editing software for computers that run Windows. It features an intuitive and innovative user interface with support for layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools. An active and growing online community provides friendly help, tutorials, and plugins.

TrueCrypt

2011-03-31T12:50:00.001+02:00

Did you hear about the joke of the politician who lost his laptop or USB disk and had sensitive data leaked out? Actually that was not a joke but a reality. It happens so often that sensitive data is leaked out through the loss of USB disks and laptops.

Why does this happen so often? Are people too cheap to pay for good encryption? Do people believe they need to hire some expert to have their data protected? Or are people too lazy to even think about all the ‘trouble’ it would take to protect all that data? Do they believe they are incapable of doing it themselves?

Here is the answer; No you do not need to be or hire a genius, you don’t need money, you don’t need special hardware and it’s really easy to do.

TrueCrypt is a free disk / file encryption tool that uses military grade encryption techniques. It offers various types of encryption from simple passwords to large key files that you can store on a usb ‘key’ and thus use a usb storage device like a physical ‘key’.

You can create encrypted ‘storage files’ that you can mount to a free drive letter like a physical disk. You can have encrypted data on a USB disk and create a ‘traveler disk setup’ that copies TrueCrypt to your USB disk so you can mount your encrypted volume on any Windows computer.

You can even encrypt your entire operating system harddisk and enter a password on boot. The advantage of this is that if you have lost your laptop, people will not be able to read any data from your laptop, even if they pull out your harddisk and try to read it by plugging it in as a USB disk.

Here is a simple tutorial on how to create an encrypted volume file and how to encrypt your entire disk.

Create Encrypted Volume
In TrueCrypt, click on Volumes, then Create New Volume…. Select Create an encrypted file container. In the next screen select Standard TrueCrypt Volume (Hidden TrueCrypt volume will create an encrypted volume within an encrypted volume. It’s like a safe with a secret compartment inside.). Next, select where you want your encrypted volume file to be stored. You can use a USB disk if you want it to be portable. Give the file any name you like with any extension you like. You can even give it an mp3 or avi extension (but you will not be able to play them as video or audio files). This can be useful if you do not want your file to draw attention. You can also leave out the extension, be creative. Next select your encryption method. AES is the default encryption method and is very safe. Next select the volume size. This will be the size of the volume file. Make sure you do not select a file size that is bigger than the amount of disk space you have left on the disk you are creating that file. Think about what you want to put in that volume and make it an appropriate size. For example a 10Gb size would be overkill if you will only put some word documents. Next type in a password. The longer the password, the smaller the chance that your volume file will be ‘cracked’ by password guessing tools. Use a combination of letters, numbers and special characters to beat “dictionary hack attempts”. You can also use keyfiles and have it create a file that is needed to decrypt your volume. You can store this file on another (small) usb disk and keep it safe. Next select the filesystem of the encrypted volume. If you will store files larger than 4Gb then select ‘NTFS’ otherwise keep it in “FAT”. Click on Format when done and wait for it to complete. Then click on Close. Now you have created your encrypted volume, but you need to ‘mount’ it to be able to read and write from it. In TrueCrypt click on “Select File” (lower right) and select the volume file you just created. Next click on a driver letter that you want to mount your volume on in the list above and click on Mount in the lower left corner. Enter the password you chose when you created the volume and select “use keyfiles” if you chose to create those too. When done, your volume should be available on the drive letter you selected. Simply open an Explorer window (Windows key + E) and browse to the volume letter you used for the encrypted volume. To dismount the volume go to TrueCrypt and select the drive letter you wish to dismount and click on Dismount in the lower left corner, or click on Dismount All and it will dismount all drive letters. If you created the encrypted volume on a portable disk, you might also want to include the TrueCrypt files on it so that you don’t have to install TrueCrypt on other computers where you want to use it. Simply go to Tools and click on Traveler Disk Setup. Click on Browse and select the disk where you created your encrypted volume file. Set any other options you desire and click on Create.

Encrypt your entire system disk
Make sure you have an empty CD ready and a CD burner.
To encrypt your entire harddisk and prevent people from snooping into your laptop or computer disk when it is lost or stolen, do the following. Click on Volumes, Create New Volume… Select Encrypt the system partition or entire system drive, next select Normal and click Next. If you store all your files on the C: volume only, you can select Encrypt the Windows system partition otherwise select Encrypt the whole drive if you also store files on other internal partitions. Next select “Single-boot” if you have only Windows running on your machine. Next select the encryption (AES is good). Next select a password and / or a keyfile. Next move your mouse around to generate random data that will be used for the encryption. This random data is generated from your random mouse movements. Click on Next and Next again. Now you need to have an empty CD ready to burn a rescue disk. You cannot continue unless you create a rescue disk. This rescue disk is bound to the specific computer and should not be used on other TrueCrypt volumes. If you do not have a CD burner on the system you are encrypting, then copy the ISO file to a USB disk and burn it on a computer that does have a CD writer. If you have no CD writer anywhere, then you can trick it by mounting the ISO file using a tool like OSFMount. Next, insert the CD into the CD drive of the system you want to encrypt and click Next to verify. Click Next. If you already have sensitive data on your system and have lots of time left, then read the description and select a wipe mode, otherwise leave to None and click Next. Click on Test to begin an encryption test. Your system will reboot and you will have to enter the password you chose. When boot is done, continue the wizard and your system will be encrypted while you continue to use your computer.

So now you have no excuse to not have your sensitive data unprotected and you no longer have to worry if it will fall into the wrong hands.

One more word of advice, if you use a laptop and have encrypted your entire disk, make sure you use a password on your Windows account. If you do not have a password on your account and someone finds your laptop while it was running, they can still read all your data because they do not need to boot your computer, as it is in sleep mode and you did not set an account password. Best practice is to always turn off your computer when you are done and have an account password even if you only have one account.

Cyber-D’s Autodelete

2011-03-28T11:00:00.001+02:00

Cyber-D's Autodelete can delete old files in a folder (and subfolders) you selected. Simply select the folder you wish to clean (downloads for example), set the rules (older than 30 days since created) and how to delete (move, recycle, secure delete). The cleanup is done on system startup only so it does not stay open in the background or you can run the cleanup manually. Log files are created per clean session and filters can be applied. Cleaning status window, run on startup and log files can be disabled if you wish.

I made autodelete when I wanted to clean up a certain folder and delete all files older than x days or months. I could not find a tool online that could do this for me, so I decided to make one.

Cyber-D’s Wallpaper Shifter

2011-03-25T12:42:00.001+01:00

Have tons of wallpapers but cannot make up your mind what to put on your dekstop? Do not like to have wallpaper randomizers running in the background and using your computer’s resources? Have irregular sized wallpapers that do not perfectly fit your monitor aspect ratio but rather not see a single color background and rather not crop the image? Then Cyber-D’s Wallpaper Shifter is for you.

I made this program a few years ago when I was facing all these problems. I had tons of wallpapers and wanted to use them all equally, and wanted my wallpaper to fit on my desktop even when the aspect ratio is not the same as my monitor.

Advantages of Cyber-D’s Wallpaper Shifter:

Runs only on startup and does not remain running in the background.
You will not see one random image more than another because it remember what images it has used (unless you have more than 5000 images).
Images can be automagically tiled or resized to fit your desktop.
Space around image can be filled with blurred image or artistic ‘edge repeat’ lines.
Super simple interface.

Windows Sidebar: Top Process Monitor

2011-03-21T12:19:00.001+01:00

Want to know what is slowing down your system? With this Top Process Monitor sidebar gadget for Windows Vista / 7, you can instantly see the top 5 processes that take up most of your CPU power. You can also cycle to see the top 5 memory consumers and harddisk throughput.

Why do you want to know this? To effectively work with any computer or life-form, you need to have an interaction or a dialog, not a monolog. If you keep instructing the computer but ignore what the computer has to say to you, then you will get into frustrations when the computer does not perform to your expectations because you do not understand why it does that.

Top Process Monitor, as well as many other sidebar gadgets can help you to establish this dialog with your computer. You tell the computer what to do and the computer can tell you what it is currently doing by showing you what processes are running, what it taking up most of it’s CPU, bandwith, memory, etc… So if you tell it to perform a certain task (for example to start a program) and it does not show a window in 5 seconds, then you can take a look at the top 5 processes to see if that process is there and if the hard disk is currently busy (by looking at your hard disk light on the computer itself or a hard disk monitoring gadget in your sidebar). If all these are true, then you just need to be patient as the computer did receive your instruction and is processing it.

Audacity

2011-03-17T11:13:00.001+01:00

Audacity® is free, open source software for recording and editing sounds. It is available for Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems.

Audacity may not be as great looking as Free Audio Editor, however it does have some advantages. Because it is fully open source and free, it allows you to save in more formats including mp3. Audacity also has the capability to edit files in batch, for example if you wish to normalize the sound in multiple files without having to open them all one by one and applying the filters. Free Audio Editor can also batch edit and save as MP3, but you will need to purchase the full version. If you are in a hurry or rather not spend money for a tool that you will only use once, then Audacity is the answer. For those who will work with audio on a frequent basis, I would recommend a license for Free Audio Editor, or even better Adobe Audition.

Audacity is also available as a portable app.

Learn more about Audacity...

PickPick

2011-03-15T10:04:00.001+01:00

PickPick is a free (for personal use) screen capture multitool. With PickPick you can easily create screenshots from your desktop, pick any color, have a color palette handy, magnify portions of your desktop, measure the distance or angle of items on your screen in pixels, have a crosshair for displaying exact coordinates on your screen or a whiteboard to draw anything on your screen.

PickPIck also comes with a neat image editor that uses the new Microsoft Ribbon (from the new Office) interface. The image editor can resize and crop your images and save them in a few popular formats like jpg, gif, bmp, png and pdf.

I use this tool on a daily basis to get colors, screenshots and quickly crop and resize images.

PhotoScape

2011-03-14T12:38:00.001+01:00

PhotoScape is an excellent free (batch) photo editing / printing tool. I use this tool a lot to do batch cropping and resizing of images. PhotoScape is amazingly enough 100% free without ads and nags. A beautiful and very useful piece of software.

PhotoScape comes with the following tools:

Editor
View photo’s and easily convert the photo to sepia / grayscale / black-white, add photo frame, resize, adjust brightness and color, auto level and contrast, sharpen, apply filters (antique photo, news magazine print, vignetting, partial blurring, etc…). You can also add text, text baloons, shapes, lines, images, etc… Advanced photo editing like red eye correction, mole removal, clone stamp are also available. The Editor can also show you a slideshow of all the images in the folder.

Batch Editor
Batch editor has pretty much the same features as the editor, but you can apply the edits to a group of images. Very handy if you need to make thumbnails that need to be in a specific size.

Page
Place multiple photo’s on one page to create a collage of photo’s.

Combine
Attach multiple photos vertically or horizontally to create one final photo

Animated GIF
Easily create animated gifs from multiple images.

Print
Print portrait shots, carte de visites(CDV), passport photos.

Splitter
Slice a photo into several pieces. Very handy for poster printing using multiple prints.

Screen Capture
Capture your screenshot and save it.

Color Picker
Zoom in on images, search and pick a color.

Raw Converter
Convert RAW images format to JPG.

Rename
Change photo file names in batch mode using numbers, dates and original find names.

Paper Print
Print lined, graph, music and calendar paper.

Viewer
View photos in your folder, create a slideshow.

SQL Dump Splitter 2

2011-02-22T10:25:00.001+01:00

SQL Dump Splitter 2 might not be very interesting for the average computer user, but it can be a very handy tool for Web Developers (like me). Specially if you work with MySQL and large SQL dump files. Usually MySQL has a limit of 2Mb per SQL file. However you will need to manually cut the SQL file if you need to insert data from a file that is more than 2Mb. This tool can automagically cut the file into proper segments for you.

HxD - Freeware Hex Editor and Disk Editor

2011-02-21T10:08:00.001+01:00

HxD is a carefully designed and fast hex editor which, additionally to raw disk editing and modifying of main memory (RAM), handles files of any size.

The easy to use interface offers features such as searching and replacing, exporting, checksums/digests, insertion of byte patterns, a file shredder, concatenation or splitting of files, statistics and much more.

Editing works like in a text editor with a focus on a simple and task-oriented operation, as such functions were streamlined to hide differences that are purely technical.
For example, drives and memory are presented similar to a file and are shown as a whole, in contrast to a sector/region-limited view that cuts off data which potentially belongs together. Drives and memory can be edited the same way as a regular file including support for undo. In addition memory-sections define a foldable region and inaccessible sections are hidden by default.

Furthermore a lot of effort was put into making operations fast and efficient, instead of forcing you to use specialized functions for technical reasons or arbitrarily limiting file sizes. This includes a responsive interface and progress indicators for lengthy operations.